“As of June 25, among the 180 confirmed MERS patients, 74 have been cured and discharged from hospital. On that basis, the rate of patients discharged is a little over 40 percent,” said Kwon Deok-cheol, South Korean Health and Welfare Assistant Minister.

Most people who have died have been elderly or have had existing illnesses.

The outbreak has been traced to a man in his sixties who returned from a trip to the Middle East in early May.